1-(N-acylamino)alkyl sulfones from N-acyl-α-amino acids or N-alkylamides.

A variety of N-(1-methoxyalkyl)amides or carbamates react readily with sodium aryl sulfinates in the presence of triphenylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate or bromide in CHCl3 under mild conditions to give 1-(N-acylamino)alkyl sulfones in good yields. A combination of this reaction with the recently described electrochemical decarboxylative α-methoxylation of N-acyl-α-amino acids to give N-(1-methoxyalkyl)amides in the presence of 3-(1-piperidino)propyl-functionalized silica gel (SiO2-Pip) enables an effective two-pot transformation of N-acyl-α-amino acids to 1-(N-acylamino)alkyl sulfones. Alternatively, N-(1-methoxyalkyl)amides can be obtained by electrochemical α-methoxylation of either N-alkylamides, lactams, or N-alkylcarbamates.